2002:0686 - MOUNT GAMBLE, Miltonsfields, Swords, Dublin

An assessment including test excavation was carried out on the final phase of the development of Swords Town Centre, Co. Dublin. The site is immediately east of and beyond the medieval borough of Swords. Human burials were identified on the summit of a low hill that occupies the site. The hillock is named Cobbe’s Hill on the first edition of the OS, and the placename relates to the Cobbe family, important landowners in north County Dublin. Mount Gamble House was built on the site in the 18th century, and the human burials were discovered under the driveway leading to the house. Mount Gamble House was demolished in the late 1980s when an overflow carpark for Superquinn was constructed at the site. There was no record of a cemetery at the site before the assessment.

The work revealed an area on the apex of Cobbe’s Hill measuring 15m by 15m and containing burials. The ground slopes gently down from the top of the hillock in all directions. No enclosing ditch was identified by the geophysical survey or in the area stripped; however, an enclosing ditch may be situated close to the burial area, as only the upper surface of the archaeological deposits was exposed in the area. It is possible that some further, outlying burials extend beyond the zone but only by a maximum of 5m, as the natural boulder clay was exposed under most of the carpark surface, clearly defining the extent of burial described below. The surviving remains appeared as three distinct areas.

Burials under the drive to Mount Gamble House
Human skeletal material representing at least seven individuals was identified in this area. The burials were identified as articulated skeletons, disarticulated skeletal material and a lintel grave. The upper surface deposits were trowelled, and late post-medieval deposits associated with the construction and occupation of Mount Gamble House were recorded over the ground surface, masking the density of burial. The post-medieval activity was characterised by shallow mortar pits with brick and compact deposits of black, coal-stained clay containing modern creamware. A single early 19th-century halfpenny (dated 1823) was also recovered from the Mount Gamble deposits. Compact, stony, gritty, silty clay (topsoil) was present between the Mount Gamble deposits where the burials were situated. Subtle faint grave fills were noted at this level as sticky brown clay surrounding the human bone; these may represent upper grave-cuts through the compacted topsoil (brown, stony, silty clay). The burials were identified on the surface of the surviving ground level and consisted of both poorly preserved inhumations oriented with the head to the west and dense deposits of disarticulated bone that appeared to be the remains of inhumations, disturbed by the construction of both Mount Gamble and the carpark. Further burials are situated in this area, both beneath the recorded remains and under the post-medieval deposits.

Earlier trench
Examination of a previously excavated trench through the site revealed further inhumations, with bones exposed along 7.5m of the section. The burials were oriented at oblique angles and appeared to be aligned east–west. The base of the trench was irregular, and at least eleven intercutting graves were identified. A tile fragment recovered from the base of the topsoil suggests that post-medieval disturbance associated with Mount Gamble has truncated cut graves on the site.

Burials to the south-east of the trench
Seven individuals represented by skulls and long bones were identified to the south-east of the test-trench; these included two juveniles. One of the adult burials had stones adjacent to the skull (evidence of possible ‘ear-muff’ stones). The burials appeared to be much less disturbed in this location, as the topsoil survived to a greater extent. The ground sloped to the south-east here, and the topsoil overlying the burials was a loose, light brown, silty clay containing some stones, animal bone and disarticulated fragments of human bone. A small quantity of cockle and oyster shell was also identified in the topsoil. The burials were again oriented with the head to the west. Further burials remain unidentified under the loose, brown, silty clay in this location.

Cultural context of the cemetery
The purpose of the assessment was to attempt to establish the extent and context of the burials. Initially it was thought that the burials may be medieval and that the hill was the site of a gallows. Little artefactual dating evidence for the burials was recovered from the excavations, which suggests a pre-Norman date for the site, as no medieval pottery was recovered. No historical or cartographic references associated with a burial-ground were found during the compilation of the report, which suggests that the tradition of burial associated with Cobbe’s Hill had been forgotten by at least the post-medieval period (AD 1550). The identification of the lintel grave and the discovery of a single skull with a stone resting against it suggest that some of the burials date from c. AD 600–1100. No associated structures such as a ditch (enclosure) or church were identified at the site. This is not surprising, given the level of redevelopment carried out on the site with the construction and occupation of Mount Gamble and the carpark. The historical sources suggest that there were at least three churches at Swords. Previous scholars have suggested that these were all situated at the known early church site at Swords adjacent to the round tower. However, the site at Mount Gamble suggests that there may have been an outlying ecclesiastical site around the summit of Cobbe’s Hill, as early burial sites are unlikely to be unassociated.

2 Killiney View, Albert Road Lower, Glenageary, Co. Dublin